Chance
by Silver Sparklze
Summary: Tonks blurts her feelings out. Remus decides to take a chance. ONE-SHOT


Title: Chance

Summary: Tonks blurts her feelings out. Remus decides to take a chance.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Notes: A challenge set by _searching4romeo_. Write a post war fic.

------------------------

Nymphadora Tonks was not a girl who scared easily.

After all, she'd managed to face down a bunch of Death Eaters _and_ Voldemort during the Great War without so much as flickering an eyelash.

So why was the situation she currently found herself in terrifying her so much?

'Because this is a matter by far more important than life or death.' Her mind told her. 'This is a matter of the heart.'

Tonks's hands shook as she made the tea, and she quickly set down a bone-china saucer before she broke it. Bad enough that she was the clumsy klutzy person she was, without angering Remus by breaking his mother's good teaset.

Carefully, the dark blue-haired Metamorphmagus picked up the tray, checking she had everything. Teapot, check. Sugar and cream for her, check. Two cups and saucers, check. Some nice shortbread biscuits, check. Good.

Tonks walked up the stairs to Remus's room slowly, watching where she put her feet. It wouldn't do her any good if she got this far only to trip over her feet now. Balancing the tray against her hip, Tonks knocked on the door. "Wotcher, Remus. It's Tonks." She called. "'ve got tea."

"Come in." Remus said.

Tonks walked in, keeping her face neutral. Every single time she saw what that bastard Wormtail had done to Remus she wanted to rip him apart all over again.

She set the tray down and crossed the room to sit by his bed. "How're you feeling?"

Remus smiled shakily. "Better." His face was a mass of brusies, and a scar marred his right side from eyebrow to cheekbone. Luckily, he'd had his eyes closed, and the knife hadn't cut through, so he still had both of them. The bruises continued down his neck, along with livid purple scars that told all and sungry he was a werewolf recovering from silver poisoning.

"That's good." She stroked his hair away from his face, then brought the tea service over and handed him his cup. "Here, yummy tea." She dropped three sugar cubes in hers and a liberal amount of cream, before sipping slowly.

"You don't have to do this, you know." Remus said quietly.

"Do what?" Tonks asked, mouth full of buttery shortbread.

"Take care of me. I could hire a nurse."

"Rubbish." Tonks scoffed. "You can't afford a nurse."

Remus put his cup down forcefully, causing a thin, hairline crack to appear. "Dammit, Tonks, I don't want your pity!" He snarled.

"Good." Tonks retorted. "You don't have it." She stood up and began pacing. "Is that all you think this is?" She asked. "Pity? You think I _pity_ you? Circe's Mirror, Remus, that's the _last_ thing I feel!" She ran a hand through her short, spiky hair. "I don't _pity_ you." She shook her head in disgust.

"Then why are you here?" Remus snapped. "Why aren't you out enjoying your life, spending time with people your own age? Why are you here, tending on an old werewolf? Is it out of some misguided sense loyalty, because I'm your late cousin's friend?"

"No!" Tonks snapped. "It's not! It's because I love you, ok?" Her voice softened. "I love you."

Remus blinked. "Don't be ridiculous." He said. "I'm old enough to be your father."

"A very young father." Tonks said. "And I'm...you think it's ridiculous, what I _feel_? I dreaded telling you, yes, but _ridiculous_?!" She bit her lip, tears filling her eyes.

"You can't love me! You deserve someone so much better! Someone who'll age at the same rate as you! I'd hate it if you woke up one morning and realised you were involved with an old man."

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Tonks asked. "I have, but from the opposite point of view. What happens if one day you decide I'm too much of a child? And you dump me? I _don't care_, Remus. I'm willing to take the chance. _I love you._ The question is...do you love me?"

"Yes." Remus side. "Merlin help me, I do."

Tonks beamed and leant down to kiss him. "Good. Now scootch over."

"What?" Remus asked, shocked.

"Scootch over. I wanna get in." Tonks explained.

"W-with me? You c-can't. It's not p-proper!"

Tonks rolled dark eyes. "I'm not going to ravish you, Remus. I just want to fall asleep next to you is all." She crawled into be next to him, her lithe body naturally curling around his. Within moments, she was asleep.

Remus sipped his rapidly coolling tea, regarding the slim figure next to him. If she didn't care then he wouldn't. He'd take each day as it came.

Keeping that philosophy firmly in his mind, Remus drifted off into slumber.

End Ficlet


End file.
